bdisk/docs/manual/user/IMPORTANT_CONCEPTS.adoc
2016-12-19 04:56:18 -05:00

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Important Concepts

If this is your first foray into building live distros, there are some terms and concepts we need to understand first. This will simplify the process later on.

Terms

An operating system is what your programs (email client, web browser, etc.) run on.

There are two basic types of booting systems that communicate between the hardware (the physical computer itself and its components) and the operating system: BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) which has been around for quite some time and the newer UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). Dont worry, you dont need to memorize what theyre acronyms for and there wont be an examjust remember that BIOS is an older technology and UEFI is the newer one (and that they operate differently).

GNU/Linux, sometimes just referred to as Linux (And there is a difference between the terminologies, but its nuanced. You are welcome to read up on it though!), is an example of an operating system. Other examples include Windows, macOS (previously OS X), iOS, Android, and a whole slew of others.

A live distro, live CD, live DVD, live USB, and the like are a way of booting an operating system without installing it on the hard drive- this means the computer doesnt even need a hard drive installed, or it doesnt matter if the installed operating system is broken. Typically they are Linux-based, but there are several Windows-based live releases out there (usually theyre focused on rescuing broken Windows systems, so theyre not very flexible).

Why live media is necessary

"But Brent," I hear you ask in a voice which most likely is nothing close to what you actually sound like and entirely in my head, "Why would I need a live CD/USB/etc.? And why BDisk?"

Elementary, my dear imaginary reader! I touch on some reasons why one might want live media in the beginning of the User Manual, but